Lee Valley’s Steam Bending Guide

Graceful, flowing curves in a project always fill me with awe. They also leave me with lots of questions – Just how the heck did they get the wood to bend like that?

Lee Valley Tools offers this excellent primer on how to steam bend wood.

Selecting the right species, building the steam box, even when to use a steam-bent piece are all covered in highly-detailed, easy-to-read descriptions.

Plenty of how-to know how is offered as well. What’s the best way to build a bending table? How long should each piece sit in the jig? How do you bend more intricate shapes, such as compound curves and recurves? It’s all in there, and the information is provided free of charge.

If you ever thought of steam bending for a future project, this should be one of your first stops.